Bury Me Deep Inside Your Heart
by Shini02
Summary: Oneshot. Comes after 'Out of the Blue'. Gone to New Orleans for the Mardi Gras with David's family, Charlie goes to see Anne Marie one last time. CharliexSasha, CharliexAnne Marie.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own a damned thing, aside from the rather snotty Afghan in this fic. And David's nutty relatives - still.

* * *

**Bury Me Deep Inside Your Heart**

"What in Heaven's name do you see in this place, Charlie?!" Sasha shouted over the loud music coming from various speakers set up along the streets. "I thought it was bad last time we were here, but this... This is outrageous!"

"Can't hear you," Charlie shouted back. He had heard her just fine but he did not feel like explaining the wonders of Mardi Gras to her. He would let David's aunt and uncle explain it all when they met up with them, and his parents and little sister, on Bourbon street in a few minutes.

"This is awesome!" David exclaimed, tugging on the two leads in his hands and now walking between Charlie and Sasha.

"He's rubbed off on you, David," Sasha said, "I'm disappointed."

The seventeen year old laughed. "It had to happen sooner or later, right? I mean, I have been living with him for five years."

"The kid's got a point," Charlie commented rather smugly. "My personality's just so infectious after all. I'm surprised it took that long."

Sasha rolled her eyes. "I would have preferred later than sooner."

Again, he pretended not to hear her as they turned a corner. He would not give into his lover's playful verbal jabs while they were vacationing. Those cheap shots she often took with her mouth usually landed them in a hot and tangled mess. He did not want to wind up knotted together with her in the middle of the street. In his youth, he would not have minded doing something so sleazy but he was aging and with age came a small sense of respect for those around him. So, instead he focused all of his attention on the passers-by, instinctively searching for David's parents, sister and other relatives.

"Charlie!" And small arms were suddenly around the German Shepherd's neck, hugging him tightly.

"Ah!" Charlie gasped, though David's sister merely heard an exaggerated whine as the dog suddenly stood still, eyes wide and heart pounding. He loved the kid to death but he loathed the way she could sneak up on him so easily. It made him feel older than he was.

David chuckled at Charlie's reaction, then rolled his eyes at his sister. "What is this? The dog gets a hug before I do?"

The little girl nuzzled affectionately against Charlie's chest before standing up straight and brushing off her leotards and pale green skirt. "Mhmm! 'Cause I love Charlie more," she smiled widely.

"Oh, yay. A fangirl," Charlie rolled his eyes and shook himself free of the sensation of being held so tight. "Just what I need."

"I think it's kind of cute," Sasha commented, hardly distracted by the way David and his sister were suddenly bickering.

"You wouldn't think so if you were the one she always had her hands on," he mumbled.

Sasha stepped closer, careful to avoid David's stride. "I thought you liked children?"

"I do – just not the ones that cling."

Sasha chuckled. "They only cling because they love you."

"Don't remind me," he said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. She arched a brow at him but he simply shook his head. She could not understand why he did not particularly care for the more affectionate children anymore. It made him think of _her_

"Charlie, if there's something you want to talk about..." Sasha said slowly, brow furrowing.

"There's nothing to–" He was cut short by David's step-mother suddenly stepping through the crowd, shouting her daughter's name as she dropped to her knees and brought her into a bear hug.

"Don't you ever run off like that again!"

"I just wanted to–"

"You could have gotten lost! You had Mommy and Daddy so worried!"

And suddenly Charlie saw an opportunity he could not ignore. Glancing from worried mother to bashful child, he edged closer to David.

"M'sorry, Mama."

"Never again am I letting you out of my sight!"

"Mom, it's alright. She was with me and – _Charlie_!" David suddenly gasped in surprise as the German Shepherd tugged his leash right out of his hand.

"I have something to take care of!" Charlie said loudly, trying to drown out the way the little one was shouting his name, ignoring the way she was reaching for him as David held her back.

"Charlie?" Sasha asked, taking an unconscious step forward.

"I'll be back later!"

"_Charlie_!" Sasha shouted now as he broke into a slow run, weaving his way expertly through the crowds of tourists.

"Can't hear you!"

---

He should have thought of going to see her sooner, before setting out with David and Sasha for the Mardi Gras festivities. Before he turned some trivial and offhanded comment into something more than it should ever been. Now he would have some explaining to do upon his return. If he was lucky, he would be able to think up something creative to tell both David and Sasha in order to avoid telling them the truth. Telling them he bailed and ran off to see an old flame was not on his to-do list.

He expertly tugged off his collar and hid it beneath a float that was not even close to being half way finished in an alley on St. Charles street. He would come back for it later, on his way back to David. Running around on crowded streets with a leash dangling from his neck was not the best of ideas, after all.

From there, he picked up the pace, running as fast as his legs could carry him to Maple Street. He dodged cars, avoided shirtless women on the shoulders of drunken men, and made it a point to never allow a child with sticky hands to touch him. He was in a rush and had no time to play games with the reckless people of the Careless city today.

And suddenly he came to a halt, using his front paws to slow down the sudden skid. The house looked different. The outside of the house was now painted a dismal brown, covered with a lacquer to make the smooth wooden outside look more natural. It looked forced, Charlie personally thought. The flowerbeds that surrounded the front of the house were gone, torn up and replaced with artificial terrain. He canted his head to the side, idly glancing at the address to make certain he had the correct place. And he indeed did. Maybe, he thought, Anne Marie had grown tired of the way the house used to look and opted for a more modern look.

"I beg your pardon," a distinctively feminine voice called out and paused, "_sir_, but what, might I ask, are you doing on _my_ property?"

Charlie looked toward the voice. He found himself staring at a chocolate colored Afghan hound. He looked from her to the side and then to her again. "Uh, and what, might I ask, do you mean by _your property_?" He questioned, mocking her manner of speech.

The Afghan walked toward him, her dark coat shimmering the color of rust in the light of the afternoon sun. She sneered at him. "Exactly what I said. This is my property, as it belongs to my Master."

"Your Master?" Charlie asked, taking a step back as he peered at her through the new iron fence. "Whattaya mean?"

She laughed something hollow and mocking at him. "Your intelligence is extraordinary, mongrel. Would you like me to dumb the situation down for you?"

He growled at her; he had never been one to take kindly to insults of any sort, especially from those who thought themselves to be better than him. "I'll get to the point: Does Anne Marie still live here?"

She rolled her eyes. "Obviously not, mutt."

"Do you have any idea where I can find her?" He asked, a sudden sense of urgency in his voice.

She tossed her head back, attempting to remove her long fur from in front of her face. "You are speaking of the old ninny that lived here, correct?"

He snarled this time, no one spoke of Anne Marie in such a way without being warned not to do it again. "Just tell me where I can find her."

The Afghan regarded him with a look of amusement, her upper lip curling in a cruel smirk that would have made a lesser dog shudder. "You can find her at 5242 Canal Boulevard."

Charlie arched a brow at her, daring to step closer. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

He eyed her for a few seconds longer and then, without a word of thanks, turned around and started toward Canal Boulevard quickly. Gut instinct was telling him something about the address should have been wrong, but for the life of him he could not remember _why_

However, upon reaching the start of Canal Boulevard, he felt his heart starting to sink deeper into his chest with every forward step. This was a dark street with few houses on it. Further down the street, he could see there was a vast piece of land with an old iron gate to welcome all visitors. Something inside was praying that would not be his destination. He hopefully eyed the addresses on the few houses he passed by, only to find his fears become reality as he was forced to face the tall iron gate with 5242 engraved in the arc at the the top, angels on either side of the number.

Charlie froze in place as the scent of fresh soil and death hit his nostrils. He blew out through his nose and shook his head, though that did not rid him of the horrid scent. Despite the childish whine that escaped him, he forced himself onward, passed the gates and onto the worn dirt path.

His ears fell back against his head and he bowed down submissively as he walked, as though a greater power were scolding him like a brash puppy. And when he stopped walking, he came to the notion that some utmost might was indeed punishing him. In front of his eyes was a stone, a piece of wearing granite like the many other markers in the graveyard. Except there was something small, yet terrifyingly different about this one. Anne Marie Baker was engraved on the stone, just above the years 1931 – 2000.

"Oh, Squeaker. No," Charlie breathed out quietly, sitting in front of the gravestone. He stared hard at the soil under him, wondering morbid things that should have not crossed his mind as he tried to decipher his emotions. Was he angry she was gone? Sad? Both? He could not tell you, all he knew was that he was hurting more than he had ever hurt before. His chest felt tight and his heart felt as though it would drop into his stomach should it sink any lower. He felt a lump forming in his throat, one he should have let out as a whine and in tears to rid himself of pressure building inside. But there was only silence as his emotions stewed dangerously. When he finally could no longer take the swelling onslaught of feeling, he tossed his head back and howled a loud and mournful song for the woman that lay in eternal sleep six feet below the ground.

And then, when his throat was raw and stressed, Charlie bowed his head once more. Daring to look at the stone again, he noticed something he had not bothered to see before. His ears perked up as he read the inscription below her name:

"_When you get to heaven, I'll be waiting.  
__When you get to heaven, I'll be there.  
__Just inside the pearly gates,  
__darling, that's where I'll wait.  
__When you get to heaven, I'll be there._"

The lyrics to the old Susan Raye song relieved his aching heart just a little. Those choice words were not just words etched in stone to make the marker pretty. On that stone was a promise and he knew it was meant for him.

He sighed and stood, a small sad smile finding its way onto his lips as he slowly turned away from her grave. "Yeah," he spoke, knowing from experience she could hear him up above, "I'll be seein' ya 'round, kid. I'll be seein' ya."

---

"_Charles B. Barkin_!" Sasha shouted as Charlie walked through the crowd of people, casually avoiding the uneasy stride of drunken men and women. "What on earth was that about? Up and leaving like that! Of all the nerve!"

"Pipe down, will ya? My head's killin' me," he mumbled, sitting beside the Red Setter and adjusting his collar.

"Charlie!" David's little sister said, voice cracking as she jerked her hand out of her mother's grasp and ran to the German Shepherd, wasting no time in wrapping her arms around his neck the way she always did. She pushed her face against his shoulder, trying to her best to hold back her relieved tears.

"Easy, kid," he said, though all David's sister heard was an affectionate and quiet bark.

Sasha put her nose in the air. "She may have forgiven you, but I most certainly haven't!"

"Suit yourself," Charlie mumbled and eased away from the little girl when he noticed David approaching alongside his step-mother and father.

"See?" David said brightly, leaning down to stroke Charlie's head, "I told you he'd come back."

"I thought he was too old to run off on his own like that anymore," David's father said flippantly.

"Offended," Charlie added in. "I am not that old!"

"What's it matter?" David chuckled, casually fisting a hand around Charlie's muzzle to keep him silent. "He always comes back."

"I suppose that's all that matters," his step-mother said in an uneasy voice. "Alright, well... We'll leave you to have your fun, and watch your sister!"

"Yes, mom," David said, standing and taking hold of Charlie's leash, keeping a firm grip on it. He waited until his parents were out of sight and heard his aunt's irritating voice call out a greeting to turn back to Charlie, squatting to look him in the eye. "Where the hell did you go? You had us worried sick!"

"Yeah!" David's sister added in, crossing her arms over her chest and attempting to glare at the dog. "And you made Sasha mad!"

Charlie's ears fell back against his head and he let out a sheepish chuckle. He looked at the little girl, then to Sasha and finally to David. "Look, I'm sorry for running off like that, ok?" This earned him a curious, somewhat forgiving look from Sasha – she always had been a sucker for apologies. "I just went to see an old friend."

-End


End file.
